Being faithful with questions unanswered

Many people have studied the book of Job hoping to find answers to why there is human suffering and have walked away from the book of Job very frustrated. But those who have come to appreciate the wisdom of the book of Job have discovered that the question the book of Job seeks to answer is “How does one live faithfully for God with our questions left unanswered?”

And it is this question that I want us to focus on as we wrap up our brief study of the Book of Job.

One of the many lessons we learn from Job is that God has plans for us that we no knowledge of until they happen.

God in his wisdom does so in order that we wake up every day and place our trust in Him and follow Him regardless of our circumstances.

The Preacher of Ecclesiastes declares,
“God has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

I don’t think Job woke up on that fateful day expecting that his wealth, family, and reputation would be removed from him. I don’t believe for a moment that Job woke up expecting that God was going to test him in ways he could ever imagine. But rather, I believe Job woke up expecting that whatever came his way that day, he was going to walk faithfully with God as he had done on every day before that fateful day.

We know this because in chapter 1, Job remarked after he had lost his possessions, family and reputation,

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing. (Job 1:21-22)

And Job’s response to God after his encounter with God in the whirlwind declared in a similar way…

“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2)

Job’s words also echo what God spoke to the suffering people of God some 800 years later through the prophet Jeremiah,

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me, and find Me when you search Me with all of your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13

God doesn’t tell his people: “I know the plans that I have for you and I’ll tell you all about them ahead of time so you’ll know what to expect.”

God simply says, “I alone know the future, so trust Me, pray to Me, seek Me. Know that whatever you face, I will walk with you and give you the strength to be my faithful witnesses to those around you.

If we knew ahead of time what was going to happen us, I suspect we would hop out of bed to embrace the good days. And likewise we would choose to stay in bed on the days when everything falls apart.

God challenges us to embrace the good with the bad so our faith will be strengthened. Think for a moment about the times when you learned the greatest lessons of faith. Were they the easy days when everything went according to your plans or were they the days that were the most challenging?

I suspect that they were the more difficult ones.

Without those difficult circumstances we would never grow to depend on God or as the Apostle Paul put it,

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:13)

And so we learn to trust God, moment by moment, day by day without knowing what lies ahead.

The Second lesson that we learn from Job is that a vertical perspective will keep us from horizontal panic.

In Job 42:3, Job responds to God with these words

Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. (Job 42:3)

I hope you noticed in the words and actions of Job that never blames God (or Satan for that matter) for his suffering. Job’s faith in God kept him from panicking.

Job had no idea of the dialogue that took place between God and Satan. Yet Job kept a vertical perspective. He knew that God had allowed his suffering, but also knew that God provided him with his only hope for being restored.

If Job had lost confidence in God to control his life, Job would have cursed God and died as his wife suggested in chapter 2 (Job 2:9). Trusting God was the only source of hope that Job clung to and that seems to be enough to get Job through.

When times have been the most difficult for me and I have wanted to call it quits, I have returned time and time again to Peter’s response to Jesus’ difficult teaching in John 6. Peter responded to Jesus question as to whether or not they too were going to walk away from him responded to Jesus by saying,

“Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69)

The disciple’s vertical perspective kept them clinging to the hope that Jesus was Messiah, the one who had the keys to a fulfilling life.

Whenever we are faced with difficult circumstances, we are given the choice to trust God and move forward or the choice of rejecting God partially or fully and walking away. This is why Jesus told us to pray for God to save us from the time of trial or those times when we are tempted to walk away from him.

We all face those moments of when we want to pack it in and walk away from Jesus.

Do you remember the last time that happened? Perhaps it was the death of a friend or family member. Or perhaps it was a time when your understanding of God’s control was tested by circumstances beyond your control.

What made you stay connected to Christ? Was it simply sheer stubbornness? Or did you evaluate the options like Peter and come to the same conclusion that Jesus was the one who helped you to make sense of it. This is what having a vertical perspective keeps us from horizontal panic.

Thirdly, when things go from bad to worse, a sound theology helps us remain strong and stable.

Please know I use this next illustration being very sensitive to the flooding that has happened in British Columbia and mindful of the hardships experienced by those in the midst of the flooding

Cartoonist Charles Schultz addressed this principle in his Peanuts comic strip. One cartoon of Schulz’s cartoon features Lucy and Linus looking out a picture window at a steady down pour of rain.

“Boy, look at it rain!” exclaims Lucy. “What if it floods the whole earth?” “It will never do that,” Linus says confidently. “In the ninth chapter of Genesis God promised Noah that would never happen again, and the sign of that promise is the rainbow.” Lucy then responds by saying, “You’ve taken a great load off my mind.”

To this Linus replies matter of factly, “Sound theology has a way of doing that.”

Having a sound theology does have a way of easing our minds in tough times. Just as emergency drills prepare us to deal with disasters. Knowing who God is and what the Scriptures say can help us to deal with the unhelpful advice offered to us by friends and family. It also helps in reinforcing what we know about God so we can stand firm on what God has promised so we can face the storms of life.

When Job responds to God, who has greatly enlarged his understanding of who God is through the 77 questions God has asked Job, Job responds in verse :6 with . . .

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5–6)

Job humbly confesses that his personal encounter with God and his suffering have given him new insights and understanding into who God is. His previous knowledge of God was limited and inaccurate and he repents or lets those old ideas, assumptions about God go in favor of what God has revealed to him and what he has learned from his encounter. Job is also declaring that his new understanding of God will shape his beliefs and practice from now on. He will be a stronger believer as a result.

Author Henry T. Blackaby (Experiencing God writes,

“Faith is developed in real-life situations. “Sight” is not “faith.” We constantly want God “to show us Your will for my life” even after He has assured us that He is doing just that. But God will do it in His way and in His time…He does not need our help; we need His help! The “silences” of God do not mean He is late, or inactive, or not working. It means this is where faith works!”

The story of Job is included in the Scriptures not because Job had all the answers for why there is suffering, but rather because he is a model of faithfulness in the midst of his suffering. He is a model of someone whose understanding of God expanded and whose faith grew stronger in the midst of his suffering. This was the reward God gave to Job for continually seeking Him even when it was difficult to do so.

In what ways is God currently expanding your expanding your understanding of Him so that you can meet the challenges that lie ahead for you and this congregation?

We know from the end of the book of Job, that Job’s suffering came to an end, but his legacy of faith has remained as a source of hope, comfort, and encouragement to every generation of Christians since.

May we learn the important lessons
of being faithful to God from Job
amid our suffering / hardship /challenges
with our questions unanswered,
but with our understanding and love of God ever expanded and expanding. Amen